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A 37-year-old man arrested Wednesday in Washington state as part of an investigation of ricin-laced letters threatened in one such letter to injure and kill a federal judge, a grand jury indictment alleges, according to CNN.

FBI agents arrested Matthew Ryan Buquet on Wednesday afternoon, and he made his initial court appearance in Spokane later in the day, the federal agency's Washington state office said in a news release.

Buquet remained in custody after the appearance, and he'll stay behind bars at least until a bail hearing takes place next Tuesday afternoon, FBI spokeswoman Ayn Dietrich said.

A grand jury charged Buquet with mailing threatening communication, claiming he "knowingly and willfully" mailed through the U.S. Postal Service a letter "containing a threat to injure and kill Judge (Fred) Van Sickle," according to the indictment.

Van Sickle is a senior judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington.

In a subsequent news release, the FBI said tests -- conducted by that agency and the Spokane Regional Health District -- showed that a suspicious substance found with the letter was "active ricin toxin."

"Our coordinated team acted swiftly to resolve a potentially dangerous situation, and continues working tirelessly around the clock to investigate the origin of the letters and to address any remaining, potential risks," said Laura Laughlin, the FBI's special-agent-in-charge at the bureau's Seattle office.